The Other Big Three

The more you prepare for a trek, the more you always hear about the “big three.” Sleep system, shelter, and pack.  As cognizant as I am of those in my planning, I’d like to spend a minute talking about what might be considered the other big three: Mental, Physical, and Logistics.  

I would wager that all of us who embark on this monumental endeavor expect to finish. The statistics vary, but from what I’ve read, in general, only about a quarter of us will make it all the way.

When I saw this statistic, I was both surprised and humbled. 

Mental

As I write from the comfort of my home in January, I can’t imagine starting this and not finishing it, as I’m sure every thru-hiker before me thought in my same shoes. What will it take to finish?  What will it feel like if I cannot? 

I am a grinder.  I may not be a consistent finish-what-you-started kind of person when it comes to ideas and creating, but paradoxically I’m never one to quit when the going gets tough.  Or so I think for now.

Some may be strong in their own convictions to trudge ahead and have that personal willpower.  For better or worse, I am the kind of person who flourishes with a community behind me, supporting me as I’ve supported them in the past.  There have been moments since I declared my intentions in September that I’ve thought, “oh shoot, now what have I done…I can’t get out of this now that I’ve told everyone I’m doing it.” My family and friends have been nothing but positive about my intentions. Perhaps when I’m out there and feeling like quitting, I will fall back on this community at home for encouragement.  

“We choose to go to the moon and do these things, not because they are easy but because they are hard.”

When I encounter my lowest moments on the trail, and there is no one around to encourage me, this will be the mantra that gets me through. 

A part of me also acknowledges what is next mentally when (if?) I do complete the trail.  I hope the experience of the  PCT helps bring me clarity for the second half of my life. I also accept that it could bring me a different kind of search.  We’ll have to put a pin in that one for my final post a year from now.

Physical

If I’m going to be honest, I’m not presently in my best shape.  I referee soccer most of the year, and I work a physical job, so I am naturally fit. This year’s dreary Pacific Northwest winter, along with a month-long vacation abroad, have slowed me down. I’m about two months into a less routine workout regimen.  

I know this needs to change, and especially now that I got my permit on the second release date and know my starting day at the end of March. My hope was for something towards the end of April, but my spot in the queue has placed me here, and I embrace it. 

That said, it is a kick in the rear to get back on the soccer field, back in the gym, eat right, and all of the things in between in spite of the discouragement of the long, cold, rainy nights that come with living in Portland in the winter. 

Leaving in March in what is trending toward a high snow year makes me want to take my time in the first 700 miles because the Sierra will likely be formidable until the end of June. My expected pace puts me there around the middle of May. This is six weeks earlier than I would like if the snow continues to fall this spring.  I feel like even if I take it easy in the desert, I’ll still get to Kennedy Meadows at a time when embarking into this terrain will be difficult and dangerous. 

I feel some paradox in knowing I can “ease in” to the hike, not being in a rush (so who needs to physically prepare to walk 10-15 miles a day? Let’s be lazy!), and knowing that I will need to be at my peak fitness to enter the snow and ice and daunting river crossings seven (or nine if I take it easy) weeks into the trek. 

I’m going to harness the Mental and drive myself toward getting back to fit.

Logistics

Right now, this seems to be the most overwhelming of the three. I only have ten weeks.  In addition to planning and gearing up for the trail, there is a personal life to get in order and my business with twelve employees to set up on autopilot. I suspect you have visited this page to hear about hiking though, so I will spare you the details of the latter two.

There are many great resources for planning.  This website has plenty of articles and stories of personal experiences. I’ve probably read pretty much everything on here from the 2022 season. I’ve joined a Facebook group for the 2023 class, read thoroughly through 2022 hiker surveys, and watched videos about how to use an ice axe.

Despite knowing that the plans would be out the window after a week, I made a spreadsheet of a theoretical day-by-day trip.  It is helpful to look at to have a sense of how many days it might take to get between resupply stops, what mileage and elevation look like between landmarks, or where I might expect to roughly be in August.

I booked my flight to San Diego, giving myself one spare day in town to get fuel and food before catching the first bus to Campo the following day.

I’ve taken a look at my current gear and am replacing things that are wearing down or weigh more than I’d like.

I plan to go up to Mt. Hood and practice wearing my microspikes and self-arresting with my new ice axe. My friend Jessie, who completed in 2021, is going to help (stand there laughing at me?). 

A short list of other things I need to do before setting out:

-Finish collecting gear and test it all out

-Plan my equipment shipment boxes…what’s in them and where they’ll be going

-Write up communication and “what-if” plans for family in case something goes wrong

-Upgrade my phone for reliability

-Sort out personal things like storage, bills, and subscriptions

-Spend time with friends and family

I feel like it will actually be easier to handle logistics on the trail than before the trail. If I need food or something else, I’ll go to town.  If I can’t get it right away, I’ll wait a day or go to the next town.  Once the pressure is off from setting everything up, I plan to enjoy the uncertainty and solve problems as they come. That’s kind of the point of all of this, isn’t it?

Surreal

As crazy as the next ten weeks will be, time will steadily count down in the background. Six months of anticipation (from when I declared to when I will embark) and preparation are leading up to a five-month journey.  This is no small task.

Sometimes the nerves and excitement bubble up, and an uncontainable “woop” slips out of me. It’s been on my mind for thirty years, and it’s really happening.

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